Ex-Arkane boss criticises Microsoft for closing studio
Founder and former president of Arkane Austin Raphaël Colantonio has insisted Microsoft was wrong for closing the studio earlier this year because it will be "impossible" to form such a talented developer again.
Former Arkane Austin president Raphaël Colantonio has hit out at Microsoft for shuttering the studio.
The company announced it would be closing the developer alongside ‘Wraithborne’s Alpha Dog and ‘Hi-Fi Rush’ developer Tango Gameworks - who was subsequently acquired by Krafton - and now the founder of Arkane has said shelving the studio was “not a good decision”.
Speaking with PC Gamer, Colantonio - who left the company following the release of its 2017 shooter ‘Prey’ - said: “I think if you look a little bit, it's obvious that Arkane Austin was a very special group of people that have made some cool things and that could pull it off again.
”I think it was a decision that just came down to, ‘We need to cut something.’ Was it to please the investors, the stock market? They're playing a different game.
“The rules that they play, we might not understand them. It's a different thing. It's hard to know why they did what they did ...The only thing that I stand by is saying that the specific choice of killing Arkane Austin, that was not a good decision.”
While he hadn’t been at the studio for its poorly-received first-person-shooter ‘Redfall’, Colantonio theorised the Bethesda-published game - which proved to be a major financial and critical failure upon its release last year - had been the final nail in the coffin for Arkane.
Looking at the game itself, the former president didn’t provide an exact reason for its disastrous launch, but stressed there would have been a myriad of factors that ultimately led to ‘Redfall’ disappointing.
He explained: “There's so many things that can influence [a game].
“Someone in management, budget reductions, someone in marketing, a new change of direction in general about the market, you lost one of your main developers. There are so many things that can come into play.”
